Joseph Cheesman Thompson (1874–1943) was an American career medical officer in the United States Navy who attained the rank of commander before retirement in 1929. His foes called him "Crazy Thompson", but to friends he was known as "Snake", a nickname derived from his expertise in the field of herpetology.
Early life and education Thompson grew up in Japan as the son of a missionary. In 1892, Thompson graduated from the Columbia Medical School.Columbia University Annual Commencement, 1892, page 11Uttermost East and the Longest War, Rhoda Seoane, 1968
Service during the Boxer Rebellion Thompson joined the US Navy in 1897. On May 18, 1900, he was detached from the , a gunboat that saw service in Hawaii, the Philippines and along the Pacific coasts of North and South America, and he was ordered to Mare Island Hospital for some unspecified treatment.
In a dispatch dated August 20, 1900, USMC Major William P. Biddle lists "Asst. Surg. J. C. Thompson, U.S.N.", as part of the First Regiment United States Marines China Relief Expedition, which was sent to Peking to rescue foreigners and Chinese Christians who were under attack by the "Boxers" or "Fists of Righteous Harmony".Boxer Rebellion (China Relief Expedition) US Navy document Another dispatch of the same date commends J.C. Thompson, among others, as "alert and zealous in caring for those overcome by the heat and the wounded".'The Siege of Peking: The March on Peking' US Navy document
On December 22, 1900, The New York Times reported, "Assistant surgeon J. C. Thompson is detached from Cavite Hospital and ordered to the Solace." (The was a hospital ship used at first during the Spanish–American War.)
By 1903, Thompson had passed his assistant status and was assigned to the Navy Yard at Puget Sound."The United Service", New York Times
American spies in Japan In February 1908, Thompson was assigned to special duty with the War Department. On January 8, 1909, papers discussed the "mystery in navy" over his whereabouts.The Times-Democrat (New Orleans, Louisiana)08 Jan 1909, FriThe Houston Post (Houston, Texas)13 Jan 1909, WedPage 6 Thompson was recruited by friend Consuelo Seoane to chart potential invasion routes of Japan while posing as South African naturalists. Thompson used the pseudonym Victor Kühne, while Seoane posed as John G. Nurse. In June 1909, the pair scouted Hong Kong's fortifications as dry run before proceeding to Japan.
Sociologist William Sims Bainbridge has recounted this version of Thompson's Navy espionage adventures:
"[Louis Livingston Seaman]'s brother-in-law Consuelo Andrew Seoane served as cartographer during the Philippine Insurrection and in 1909–1911 was a spy for the United States Army, traveling under a pseudonym throughout the Japanese Empire with Joseph "Snake" Thompson, pretending to be herpetologists studying coastal reptiles and amphibians, but actually charting invasion routes." Across the Secular Abyss: From Faith to Wisdom, p. 5, by William Sims Bainbridge
Seoane's widow Rhoda has written of Commander Thompson:
"One day they received a courtesy call from a visiting Japanese natural history professor. Thompson showed the professor's card to Consuelo with a grimace and said that our new caller has undoubtedly been sent by the police to inquire into our knowledge of natural history. "I will dispatch him, after giving him an inferiority complex regarding his particular profession." After this all such visits terminated."Uttermost East and the Longest War, Rhoda Seoane, p. 98
Thompson authored a variety of naturalist papers: "Fish Fauna of the Tortugas Archipelago". (1904) Fish Fauna of the Tortugas Archipelago' (with David Starr Jordan) Bulletin of the US Bureau of Fisheries "Description of a new species of sea snake from the Philippine Islands with a note on the palatine teeth in the proteroglypha". (1908) (with J. Van Denburgh) "Description of a new genus and species of salamander from Japan". (1912)'Description of a new genus and species of salamander from Japan', (1912) California Academy of Sciences, "Notes on Serpents in the Family Colubridae". (1913) Natural Sciences of Philadelphia "Contributions to the Synonymy of Serpents in the family Elapidae". (1913) Academy of Natural Sciences "The variation exhibited by mainland and island specimens of the Hibakari snake, Natrix vibakari (Boie)". (1914) US National Museum, "Further contributions to the anatomy of the ophidia". (1914) Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London "The variation exhibited by Thamnophis ordinoides (Baird and Girard) a garter snake inhabiting the San Francisco peninsula". (1917)
San Diego In 1915, Thompson was interviewed on the subject of trepannation among indigenous peoples in Peru.The Los Angeles Times (Los Angeles, California)14 Aug 1915, SatPage 17The Los Angeles Times (Los Angeles, California)30 May 1915, SunPage 65
Thompson helped found the Zoological Society of San Diego, and was its vice president previous to 1917, at which point he was called to serve again as a doctor in the US Navy.Marjorie Betts Shaw, "The San Diego Zoological Garden: A Foundation to Build On", The Journal of San Diego History, Summer 1978, Volume 24, Number 3, p305
"Commander J. C. Thompson was a neurosurgeon assigned to Navy Hospital. Entomology was a hobby, and he also showed an interest in the herpetofauna of San Diego County. He offered to supervise the construction of a reptile house, announcing that he already had plans for one. He was elected vice-president of the Zoological Society, and was appointed with Dr. Harry Wegeforth and Frank Stephens to draw up the Articles of Incorporation and the By-Laws. Thompson is given credit for much of the planning of the Zoo's education program. In a news article he wrote in 1916, he described the arrangement of exhibits as they would appear in Balboa Park's Pepper Grove, an early choice for the Zoo's location. He also announced that there would be guidebooks, text books and free lectures. After having been presented with a Kodiak bear lent to the Zoo by Captain Prideaux of the U. S. collier "Nanshan". Thompson announced that the first lecture would be about bears. It must have been an interesting lecture. "Caesar", the Kodiak, had been kept as a mascot and pet by the crew of the Nanshan until she got too large and unruly. According to Dr. Wegeforth, none of them knew anything about crating bears, and didn't know quite how to get her to the Zoo. With no truck, and no expertise in handling bears, it was decided to put a collar and chain around the bear's neck and let her ride to the Zoo with Thompson, seated beside him in the front of his car."
In 1918, Thompson was stationed at an Atlantic port and loaned his extensive library to the Oakland Public Museum.The San Francisco Examiner (San Francisco, California)03 Feb 1918, SunPage 8 i1
Recruiting trip In 1919, a Salem, Oregon, newspaper reported Thompson's arrival as part of a Navy recruitment drive. Thompson addressed multiple groups in the city.Statesman Journal (Salem, Oregon)30 Oct 1919, Thu Page 6
Thompson spent two years in Portland, after which he was detached from the recruiting station and posted to Guam, taking with him a "tame rattlesnake" named CrotellusThe Oregon Daily Journal (Portland, Oregon)26 Oct 1921, WedPage 22
Psychoanalytic career In the early 1920s, Thompson became interested in Freudian psychoanalysis and he underwent analysis with Dr. Philip S. Graven in 1923. In 1924, Thompson became vice-president of the Washington Psychoanalytic Association, but by 1936, after criticizing the American psychoanalytic establishment for straying too far from Freud, he was no longer listed as a member of the association. It was Thompson's contention that lay analysts should be given as much importance in the psychoanalytic field as physicians. Sigmund Freud's collected correspondence in the US Library of Congress does contain a 1923 postcard to Joe Tom Sun, listed in the collection as an alias for Dr. Thompson of Baltimore, M.D.
In Guam, Commander Thompson became involved in archaeological explorations, and the 1923 Journal of the Polynesian Society reported that due to his efforts "much information has been obtained about the culture of the vanished Chamorros, a flourishing race at the time of Magellan's visit in 1521."The Journal of the Polynesian Society, 1923
Also while in Guam, under the pseudonym "Joe Tom Sun", Thompson published three articles in the Psychoanalytic Review:
"Symbolism in the Chinese Written Language" (1923)'Symbolism in the Chinese Written Language' Psychoanalytic Review, 1923 "Psychology in Primitive Buddhism" (1924)'Psychology in Primitive Buddhism' Psychoanalytic Review, 1924 "Symbolism in the Sumerian Written Language" (1924)'Symbolism in the Sumerian Written Language' Psychoanalytic Review, 1924
His other published works on psychiatry:
"Psychoanalytic Literature" (1923) (as J. C. Thompson) "The Psychoanalyst and his Work" (1924) (as J. C. Thompson)US Naval Medical Bulletin vol. XXI "Tro-pical Neurasthenia: A Deprivation Neurosis" (1924) (as J. C. C. Thompson) The Military Surgeon vol. 54 "Desertion: Observations of a Psychoanalyst" (1924) (as J. C. C. Thompson)
One of his papers, "The Ψ-Systems of Freud", was read and discussed at the 1924 meeting of the American Psychoanalytic Association.
Time in Guam On October 22, 1921, a DC paper reported Thompson had been transferred from Portland to Guam.Evening Star (Washington, District of Columbia)22 Oct 1921, SatPage 3 It would later be reported that on Guam, Thompson had discovered "tombs of Polynesian kings almost as old as that of King Tutenkhaman" on Guam.The Culbertson Progress (Culbertson, Nebraska)29 Mar 1923, Thu Page 2
Return from Guam On February 23, Thompson reported to the USS Chaumont for transport to San Francisco. His orders from the trip include the note: "In view of your being a psycho-analyst, and there being a number of psychoneuroses on board, you are hereby ordered to temporary duty while enroute to San Francisco". Thompson and three daughters departed Guam for the US, arriving in San Francisco on March 12.The San Francisco Examiner (San Francisco, California)13 Mar 1923, Tue Page 7Daughters: June, Artae, and Maud In April 1923, the San Francisco Chronicle reported Thompson had recently arrived from Guam and planned to visit his mother "Mrs. Thomas J. Thompson" in Pasadena.San Francisco Chronicle (San Francisco, California)01 Apr 1923, Sun
Relationship with L. Ron Hubbard In 1923 Thompson accompanied then 12-year-old L. Ron Hubbard, the future founder of Scientology, aboard the USS Ulysses S. Grant. According to a recording of Hubbard sharing anecdotes from his life, he considered Thompson to be a "very great man" who sparked Hubbard's interest in "the human mind". Hubbard said that Thompson told him, "If it's not true for you, it's not true."Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: Hubbard claimed an ongoing relationship with Thompson saying as "the years went along and I knew Thompson again here and there, and I read books that he sent me and so forth."L Ron Hubbard Lecture 6 April 1954: Universes
D.C. On April 11, 1924, the Washington Psychoanalytic Association held its first meeting. Thompson served as vice-president under William A. White.The Honolulu Advertiser (Honolulu, Hawaii)16 Jun 1927, Thu The inaugural meeting featured a paper titled "An Analysis of a Case of Vampirism" by Dr. Philip S. Graven.